Sewage is the spent water carrying body wastes, washing water, food preparation wastes, laundry wastes, and other waste products. Sewage from individual residential and commercial outflows is typically collected and processed at a central treatment plant. At the central treatment plant, sewage is treated to various stages to allow the resulting product to pass back into the ecological system. Certain types of sewage outflows have high contents of organic matter such as greases. Such organic matter can clog sewage collection systems prior to the sewage reaching the central sewage treatment plant, thereby substantially disrupting the treatment process, particularly at the lift/pumping stations frequently located along the sewage transport lines which transport the sewage to a higher elevation. Because of their utilization of pumping to transport sewage, lift stations serve as a collection point for grease and other organic matter that is not decomposed within the water flow. It is typical to regularly clean out lift stations (and other junction points in the system where floating grease and other organic matter collects) by pumping the grease and organic matter to a secondary reservoir such as a vacuum truck.
Bacterial augmentation has been implemented to maximize the effectiveness of organic decomposition in order to mitigate the problem of frequent removal of the floating grease and organic matter from lift stations (and other junction points). For example, bacteria with high capacity for increasing the decomposition of grease and other organic matter have been charged into sewage systems. Such bacteria reduce the amount of grease by converting it to lower molecular weight compounds which do not readily accumulate/agglomerate within the sewage collection system. These bacteria operate almost exclusively in the water phase and their cultures grow in the grease and water interface, on the sides and on the bottom of the tank or trap in which they are placed.
However, bacteria which compete with the added supplemental bacteria constantly enter the system with the continuous inflows of fresh sewage. Consequently, the supplemental bacteria must be replenished frequently, often daily. Liquid compositions containing bacteria can be pumped into lift stations systems but the dispensing equipment takes up needed space and as stated previously the bacteria must be added frequently.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,925,252 describes a bioremediation device for biological degradation of a waste material in a collection system. The disclosed bioremediation device comprises a bioactive element having at least one active ingredient present in a variable concentration, said variable concentration being greatest substantially at the outside of said bioactive element and being least within the bioactive element, so that the bioremediation effect of the element is greatest when the waste material is first exposed to the outside of the bioactive element and lessens as the bioactive element dissolves in the waste materials. The '252 patent remediation device thereby purports to accomplish both an initial stronger effect to achieve reduction in the grease and other organic materials in the collection system and then a diminishing effect to sustain maintenance of the remediation effect in the collection system.